It’s the beginning of a new year and for the first time in over six years, I won’t have Delta elite status. Come to think of it, I won’t have any Delta miles either. The airline was my first true love in frequent flying and my main mileage bank over the last decade, but in times where change seems to be around every corner, I decided I no longer trusted the mega airline with the currency I value most, miles. Secretly raising rates?!…

For those that don’t already know, Delta removed their mileage charts. This essentially means that for anyone with Delta miles, there is no sure fire way of knowing how many miles any flight, anywhere in the world, will require; greatly increasing the chances that you “over pay”. It’s ^^^^ insanity. Every other airline on earth publishes charts, offering a sense of what value can be gained from their miles. Miles are a selling tool, not a burden. In the new “chartless” system, the only way to know how much a flight costs in miles is to search and search, until you find the lowest number, thus assuming the baseline. For many flights, that lowest number just changed without warning or publication.

Delta has raised the rates for many flights including those from the US to South America, South Africa, Asia/Pacific, and on many of their partners, who represent great uses for Delta miles, including Garuda Indonesia and Korean Airlines. For the moment Virgin Atlantic appears in tact. For many routes, the miles needed for a one way ticket mysteriously jumped between 10,000 to 20,000 miles for all travel after October 1st of 2016. I do not have a crystal ball and there are still great uses for Delta Skymiles, but I would throw caution to the wind for anyone planning to bank their loyalty going forward. You never know when that seat you’ve been saving for will require more miles. Literally. They won’t tell you.